Acoustic Blues Guitar Lessons - Jim Bruce

After studying how to finger pick blues guitar

- for the last forty years or so, it strikes me
that thumb movement control is vital. If asked by student guitarists 'what’s
the most important technique to practice again and again', my reply is always -
work on your basic thumb technique, repeat and explore the possibilities.

Early Picking Techniques

A picking style very common in the early blues music is known as the 'monotonic
bass'. This indicates that the thumb hits one or more bass strings, and doesn't
alternate between strings.

This allowed the fingers to be creative, as you
didn't have to think too much about your thumb. Also, often the basses weren’t fretted
at all, which allowed for increased flexibility for the fretting hand fingers.

For this reason, players held the palm of their picking hand in contact with
the first three or four bass strings, muting the sound so that it became more of
a 'thunk' or 'thrumming' sound than a clear discernible note.Big Bill Broonzy was a master of this style.

Other guitarists , such as Lightnin' Hopkins, often used this monotonic
bass style, but let the the bass notes ring. The monotonic bass style was
employed by other blues men such as Mance Lipscomb, Scrapper Blackwell and of
course Robert Johnson.

In the video below I'm re-visiting Broonzy's famous song Hey,Hey again and jammin' along with Bill to try and get that elusive swing. The palm damping technique is easy to learn but very hard to master when playing in Big Bill's style.

As well as controlling that thumb, remember that Bill played mostly with just one finger, so there's a lot to think about - add a little singing and you'll see where the challenge is.

Jim plays 'Hey Hey'By Big Bill Broonzy

Broonzy

Blind Blake

Willie McTell

Muddy Waters

Robert Johnson

Gary Davis

Doc Watson

Floyd Council

Pink Anderson

Blind Boy Fuller

Lightnin' Hopkins

Some History – Picking Blues Guitar

It's possible that the first blues guitar sounds came from the south
states and were really quite basic. Weather conditions are heavy and humid in
those regions, which aren’t ideal for wooden musical instruments using strings.
The very first stringed guitar-type instruments were probably constructed from
cigar boxes, had one to four strings and were sometimes played with a bottle
neck or slide. These first guitars were very difficult to keep in tune, and so
bottleneck playing was a good option, as variation in tone was just a matter of
moving the slide position while playing.

In the first part of the 20th century, selling by catalog became
commonplace, pioneered by Sears, and inexpensive guitars were made available to
ordinary people. However, for a colored person existing on subsistence level
wages, even a very cheap guitar was tough to buy. That said, professionally
constructed six string guitars were a great improvement over a self made cigar
box guitar!

Other guitarists , such as Lightnin' Hopkins, often used this monotonic
bass style, but let the the bass notes ring. The monotonic bass style was
employed by other blues men such as Mance Lipscomb, Scrapper Blackwell and of
course Robert Johnson.

Robert Johnson, King Of Delta Blues

Possibly the most famous old blues man. For many people, blues means
'delta blues' and delta blues means Johnson. His style of picking was at the
same time raw but could be delicate, which was achieved by his development of a
powerful technique incorporating a strong monotonic bass and delicate answering
finger work. In addition to his inventive guitar phrasing, Johnson's vocals were
intense and charged with emotion.

His most powerful pieces were in the key of A and slide songs in the
open G tuning, both groups being played with a strong monotonic bass line.

Alternating Bass And Ragtime Blues Guitar

Ragtime piano became popular in the early 1900s and some blues guitar
players realized that the characteristic bass signature could be played in a
simplified way on the guitar. To accomplish this, it was necessary to strike
two or three bass strings with the picking thumb, alternating between the
strings, producing a 'bum-chick' sound. When this technique was combined with
the picking sounds of the fingers, a very complex sound is produced which
sounds like two guitars!

Many guitarists, such as Mississippi John Hurt, used this technique
exclusively and recorded some fine work. Of course, the dexterity needed to
play this style is far above that required to play monotonic, delta style blues.

Blind Blake was probably the foremost ragtime blues guitar player
between 1920 and 1930? He achieved this by taking the thumb control to a new,
extraordinary level. In many of his songs, Blake doubled up on the alternating
thumb beats, making two notes instead of one.

Beyond Ragtime Blues Guitar

Modern players took hold of this early ragtime sound and quickly
extended the chords and techniques, exploring new areas. Many of the original
Scott Joplin rags have been faithfully transcribed, and other ways of playing
appeared constantly. In the U.S., many notable musicians extended these picking
styles and gave the music a country flavor.

Merle Travis was one of the first pioneers of this new genre and this is
why the style is often called Travis picking. Chet Atkins was an obvious master
of the style and currently Tommy Emmanuel is probably the foremost finger
picker on the planet. Doc Watson, another legendary figure, was an expert in
the Travis picking style.